Farage urged to explain anti-abortion links to meeting with Trump officials

"Nigel Farage has been urged to explain why a US anti-abortion advocacy group helped arrange a meeting in London with Trump administration officials and diplomats. The meeting, first reported by the New York Times, took place in March between Farage and a delegation from Trump's state department, which it said was overseen by the US embassy and brokered by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) group. The meeting was said to have discussed abortion rights, free speech and online safety laws. ADF, which supports free speech and religious freedom, has worked in Britain to help challenge the prosecutions of Christians who were arrested for praying silently outside abortion clinics, breaching buffer zones."

"The group, which is non-politically partisan and says it is a human rights charity, said it was not present at the meeting and had never met with Reform UK politicians to discuss abortion law. In response to the meeting, the Liberal Democrats accused Farage of working with Trump officials and anti-abortion campaigners who want to water down women's rights and urged him to explain what was discussed. Daisy Cooper, the party's deputy leader, also called on the government to summon the US ambassador to get to the bottom of what looks like a blatant attempt to interfere in the UK's domestic laws. Nigel Farage needs to come clean and explain if his party would weaken women's rights if he came to power, she said. The Liberal Democrats will stand up against these attempts to turn Trump's America into Farage's Britain and roll back the clock on decades of progress."

"Reform was approached for comment. Asked by the New York Times about his relationship with the ADF, Farage said his party talks with all sorts of groups and denied speaking against abortion, telling a reporter that she was talking utter bollocks. He said that abortion was No 468 on Reform UK's agenda and noted he had hardly ever spoken about it in 30 years. My point was that the 24-week limit was looking in serious j"

A March meeting in London involved Nigel Farage and a US State Department delegation overseen by the US embassy and reportedly brokered by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). The discussions covered abortion rights, free speech and online safety laws. ADF supports free speech and religious freedom and has worked in Britain to challenge prosecutions of Christians arrested for praying silently outside abortion clinics that breached buffer zones. ADF denied being present at the meeting and said it had never met Reform UK politicians about abortion law. The Liberal Democrats accused Farage of aligning with anti-abortion campaigners and demanded explanation. Farage denied opposing abortion, said it ranked low on Reform’s agenda and rejected a reporter’s claim as "utter bollocks."

Read at www.theguardian.com